Giggs grateful for points

RYAN Giggs reiterated that it is results, rather than performances, which matter at this stage of the season after the 2-0 win over Sheffield United. United increased their lead at the top of thePremiership to six points with victory over Sheffield United, although title rivals Chelsea can reduce that to three with a win in Wednesday's match at West Ham.

RYAN Giggs reiterated that it is results, rather than performances, which matter at this stage of the season after the 2-0 win over Sheffield United.

United increased their lead at the top of thePremiership to six points with victory over Sheffield United, although title rivals Chelsea can reduce that to three with a win in Wednesday's match at West Ham.

United have been in free-scoring form recently, but Giggs - who made his 500th league appearance in the game - was not troubled they only managed two goals in the defeat of the Blades.

The Welsh winger said: "Sheffield United came with a gameplan - to get men behind the ball - and the early goal sort of killed it.

"But we didn't play as well as we have been doing and 1-0 is always a dodgy scoreline, so we're pleased to get the second goal.

"It was a bit frustrating but this is an important part of the season.

"We've been lucky for the last three or four games to score a lot of goals.

"It's not going to be like that all time - sometimes 1-0 or 2-0 is a great scoreline."

He added on Sky Sports 1: "It's about getting results, we've done it tonight and we've got to do it on Saturday (at home to Middlesbrough).

Praise

"We'd take 1-0 right now because we're not going to score four or five every game - as long as the lads do the job at the back we should be okay."

Boss Sir Alex Ferguson praised his side for getting the win without expending too much effort.

Patrice Evra was a notable casualty after he went off injured following a clash with Colin Kazim-Richards, but the Scot was pleased that his other players did not get run too hard by the Blades.

“It was a professional job and in the second half we just ran the clock down a bit.

“We saved our legs well and I think that was a sensible thing to do. The performance was economical and we didn’t kill ourselves, which was important.”

Speaking about the French defender’s injury, Ferguson confirmed that it was unclear how long he would be missing for.

“He got a bad tackle and we’ll send him for a scan in the morning and see the extent.

“But yes, he got a bad tackle.”

Midfielders Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson were United’s full-backs at the final whistle and they earned their manager’s praise for stepping into unfamiliar roles.

“We’ve ended up with two midfielders playing full-back and it’s difficult to ask them to do a really good job as defenders.